When we went home on leave (AKA vacation for those non-military types), we all ended up sick. I ended up in the ER one night with an ear infection, sinus infection and had to have a breathing treatment due to tightness in my chest. The hospital back home had changed their policy, so we had to go across town to a 24 hour CVS to get my prescriptions filled. Since it was midnight there wasn't much of a wait, but we still had time to wander around looking for something to help my husband and our son, since both were having difficulties as well. We ended up in the vaporizer isle. Since our Vicks Vaporizer (review seen here: http://www.epinions.com/well-review-17FF-2F7F2EE1-3A13A54D-prod3 ) had died and we wanted a new one anyway, we decided to pick one up. We liked the medicine up on the old Vicks, so that was something in specific we were looking for, and CVS only had one available. The Robitussin 2.0 Gallon Warm Mist Vaporizer DH750. Since Robitussin is a brand and name we both recognized, we decided to purchase it.

Our next stop was to look on the next isle (of COURSE they wouldn't keep the vapor medicine on the same isle) to pick up some of the vapor medicine to add to it to help my family breathe better, since we were sharing the same bedroom and kept the door shut anyway. It would help keep the medicine in and not both anyone else. I figured since it was a Robitussin machine, we'd buy their medicine for it. Well, either CVS doesn't sell it or Robitussin doesn't make it because all we could find was Vick's brand. Since we KNEW it worked, we went ahead and picked it up and headed home.

The Robitussin 2.0 Gallon Warm Mist Vaporizer DH750 has a white body with a build in carrying handle, which is GREAT! It has a fill line inside that you can see either while the vaporizer is on it's side or standing up in carrying position. DO NOT OVERFILL! It is designed to be carried upright and laying flat, and either way it won't spill. While you can CARRY it upright, it has to be on a flat surface, laid down, to operate. The body is about 12" across, 18" from front to back, including the handle, and 5" tall, 6" give or take including the cap. It has a 2 gallon capacity, which makes running time roughly 26 hours, depending on the mineral content of your water.

One thing that I like is that the lid has a locking feature, so kids can't get it open and play in the water. It also makes it a little harder to spill. We have dropped it and the water didn't splash out, although it wasn't a high drop. I am sure a drop down the stairs or something could pop it lose. The only way to open it is to insert the electrical plug into the bottom and the back of the red lid. It only goes in one way, due to the polarized plug, and you have to jiggle it a little to get it to go. I have to push in kind of hard and down a little and it lets me pop it off. Fairly kid-proof.

Ok, you fill it with 2 gallons of cool water, get the lid on (snaps in place going on) and plug her in. Then what? You sit back and wait up to 25 minutes to see if it will steam. No, that isn't a typo. If you haven't gotten an steam within that amount of time, you may add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda per tank of water to initiate steaming. You have to mix this well and be careful not to add to much. According to the directions, if you add to much it can cause excessive boiling and hot water spurts which could cause burns.

After the 25 minutes was up, and we had no steam, we added the baking soda, mixed it well and sat back and waited. Ok, we got tired of waiting and went to watch a game show. When we went back we had a small amount of steam coming out. WHOOO-HOOO! We got steam! Well, sort of. We had added the medicine (which we spilled and had to clean up when we removed the locking lid to add the baking soda) and went to bed. In the morning, actually when I woke up about 4 hours later, there was still a small trail of steam coming out, but no medicine smell in the air like we got with our old vaporizer. I looked and about half of the medicine was gone. Where did it go? It couldn't have been in the air since my husband and son were both still as stuffy as they were when they went to bed. I thought maybe it was my in-laws home. We were leaving for home in two days away, so we packed it up.

Packing it up was kind of a pain in the rump, as well. Since the hole for the water is just off center, more or less, it makes dumping the water out a pain. Not all of it wants to come out. The raised markings showing the fill line, in both places (one standing, one laying flat) also hide some of the water. I ended up having to cram a towel in there to sop up the rest of the water. You are supposed to wipe it out, anyway, while storing, but I ended up using two. One to finish emptying the water and one to finish drying it out.

Once we got home we tried again. Due to the mineral content of our water here (800 miles from where we were) is higher, so it put out the small, thin stream of steam without baking soda, which is good since I didn't have any on hand and it was 3am when we got home. We placed the Robitussin 2.0 Gallon Warm Mist Vaporizer DH750 on the dresser, on a thin towel since our dresser is wood. It still sits flat, but adds a payer of protection to our furniture.

With the exception of the baking soda, we had the same experience at home. VERY little steam and the medicine cup was empty, yet there was no smell in the room. Maybe I am expecting to much? The Vick's we used before cranked out steam and you could smell the medicine in the air and almost instantly it started to clear your head. We have used this one for about two weeks with no noticeable effects. Maybe our air is just so dry that it isn't helping?

So, what do I think? I'm not sure. I love the auto shut-off feature. When the heating element gets below the water level, it shuts itself off. I like the locking lid and that is has a medicine cup. The built in handle is nice. I don't like the fact that it runs thru the medicine, even though it doesn't seem to be putting it out in the air. Very little steam comes out. The locking lid IS nice, but it can be a pain to take off (sometimes it gets stuck) and it's a pain to clean.

So, do I recommend it? If you want to add just a tad bit of moisture and aren't expecting big things, then yes. If you want a machine like I do, then no. I will have to hunt around and see if I can find another Vick's like I had before.

From the manual:

Limited Warranty

"This 3 year limited warranty applies to repair or replacement of product found to be defective in material or workmanship. This warranty does not apply to damage resulting from commercial, abusive, unreasonable use or supplemental damage. Defects that are the result of normal wear and tear will not be considered manufacturing defects under this warranty. Honeywell is not liable for incidental or consequential damagers or any nature. Any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose on this product is limited in duration to the duration of this warranty."